Case Methodology as a Pivot of Strategic Management

This study examines the role of case methodology as a pivot to the pedagogy of business policy/strategic management. It briefly traces the roots of strategy and advocates the need to intensify the use of case methodology in the teaching and learning of strategic management in tertiary institutions and business schools where the course is tenable. The study adopts a post-positivist approach and employs descriptive and exploratory research design which relies heavily on secondary data and historical orientation. The study stresses that the use of case method based on proxies such as heuristics, simulation and case writing could have positive relationship with deepening and enriching the pedagogy of strategic management in-situ in the classroom context subject, of course, to empirical operationalisation. Specifically using general systems theory, complexity theory and chaos theory to anchor the study highlights the relevance of case methodology to all aspects of strategic management viz: strategic intent, strategy formulation, strategy implementation, strategy evaluation and control as it could assist students as future strategists to develop their competencies to fit answers to practical strategic problems in the future. Therefore, the study likening cases in strategic management to cadaver used for training in medical sciences, strongly recommends that sufficient time be allocated to lecture periods for strategic management to afford learners opportunity to find solutions to real-life strategic problems reported in specific cases. Schemas of interactive model, competitive profile matrix, and balanced scorecard were used to illustrate the respective concepts of strategic intent, business competitive strategy, evaluation and control. The recommendation lends credence to the hands-on experience students stand to gain with continued practice over time especially by institutions in the developing economies.

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